Each year, as the administrator of two scholarship funds endowed with the University of Kansas Endowment, the Greater Kansas City AOII Alumnae Chapter is proud to award scholarship funds to female students who meet the requirements of each award. The Alpha Omicron Pi Scholarship and the Jessie Marie Cramer Scholarship have slightly different requirements. The AOII Scholarship is awarded to an initiated member of AOII at the undergraduate or graduate level. The Jessie Marie Cramer Scholarship must go to a female student who has completed her junior year with preference given to students from the Greater Kansas City area. Both scholarships require applicants to demonstrate financial need.
For the 2019-2020 school year, KCAOII is pleased to award $10,916 to five deserving recipients: AOII Abigail Torpy, Grace Brandt, Sidney Zavala, Tajia Fairbank, & Breanna Bell. Please read below to learn about these outstanding winners.
Abby is a current Higher Education Administration Master’s student at the University of Kansas, where she also works as a graduate assistant for the Office of Sorority & Fraternity Life within the Student Involvement & Leadership Center. Before moving to Kansas, Abby graduated from Texas A&M University in May 2018 and now holds a BA in Communication, with a certificate in Strategic Communication and minor in Psychology. While at Texas A&M, Abby was a colony member for the Tau Mu chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi, and served as the chapter’s first Vice President of Communications. Along with AOII, she was involved in Texas A&M’s College of Liberal Arts Student Council, Aggie Orientation Leader Program, and worked at the Women’s Resource Center.
Grace Brandt is a senior in The University of Kansas’s School of Social Welfare. She is a graduate from Bishop Miege High School and is originally from the Kansas City Metropolitan area. Once Grace graduates, she plans on obtaining her masters degree in social welfare at The University of Kansas. Grace is interested in working in the mental health field, but is also interested in exploring other avenues of social welfare.
Sidney Zavala is a University of Kansas student entering her fourth year. She is majoring in Psychology with a minor in Law & Society. She is involved in the Student Alumni Leadership Board, Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Delta Epsilon Mu Fraternity, intramural sports, the Latin American Student Union and enjoys volunteering at LMH Health. She works as a Coordinator within the Student Ambassador Program and plans to continue with school after graduating from KU.
Tajia Fairbank is currently a senior at KU majoring in English with a focus in Creative Writing. She’s from Garden City, KS, and has attended KU for two years. In addition to her studies, she also plays Alto Sax in the Marching Jayhawks. She has been reading anything she can get her hands on from a young age and interested in writing for just as long.
The final winner is Breanna Bell.